p. 550 | THE RETURN OF THE JEWS by M. C. W.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 9, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 35.

THE RETURN OF THE JEWS.

By M. C. W.

We have received a letter from an esteemed correspondent who acknowledges that we have the truth on the nature of man, the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, and baptism. The writer is trying to believe and obey God.

We are grateful for this, and will say in the words of Scripture, "Hold fast that thou hast." Truth is precious, and we cannot afford to lose any part of it, either through unbelief, prejudice, or rebellion. But our correspondent thinks that we hold very erroneous views concerning the reign of Christ, the inheritance of the saints, and the return of the Jews. We are accused of perverting God's word, taking one part as it reads and making of none effect other parts, giving private interpretations, falsifying the word, etc. We are asked to explain the eighty-ninth Psalm, the last seven chapters of Isaiah, the thirtieth, thirty-first, and thirty-third chapters of Jeremiah, the last nineteen chapters of Ezekiel, and seven of the shorter prophets down to Malachi. A modest request, truly.

We reply to these objections and queries for the benefit of this correspondent, and others who have written about these things. But we cannot reply to these questions in detail. It would take volumes to do so; and the majority of return-of-the-Jews people would listen to the whole argument in which each text was explained in harmony with the whole, and when the last was finished, would turn back and produce the first with an air of triumph, as though it had never been answered. Our correspondent also finds fault with the view that the saints go to heaven, although absolute and irrefutable proof was given, showing that they are taken there at the second coming of Christ, when the earth is desolated. We have the promise of Christ that he would take them there, the statement of Paul that they are caught up to meet Christ in the air, and the positive statements of Revelation that they are there.

But to admit this and the desolation of the earth, overthrows the theory of the return of the Jews and the other theories connected with it. We hope our readers will not sacrifice truth to theory. Once more we will state our reasons why we do not believe that the Lord has any special work to do among the Jews in the Christian dispensation:—

1. Some of the promises to the Jewish nation were conditional. If that people were obedient, the promises would be fulfilled; otherwise, they would not. The broad principles of these conditions are thus stated by the prophet:—

"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do

unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." Jer. 18:7-10.

These words express the principle which covers God's dealings with nations, and they are spoken with direct reference to the Jewish people. But this is not the only testimony. Says the Lord in Deut. 8:19, 20:—

"And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God."

Certainly this is decisive to show that the promises to the literal seed of Jacob were based upon conditions. These conditions may not always be annexed to the promises, but that does not invalidate the principle. God's word is a unit, and when he states positive conditions relative to certain promises and rewards in one place, they are implied in all other places. For example, Peter's "Repent, and be baptized" would not be sufficient considered by itself. Faith is also necessary. If no other conditions than the "Repent, and be baptized" were given, we could justly conclude that these were all the conditions necessary to be fulfilled, in order to be accepted of Christ. But other conditions are mentioned elsewhere, and they must be included in these above mentioned. Such conditions are representative of all other necessary conditions.

It is the same as regards prayer. "Ask, and ye shall receive," says one text. But the mere asking will not bring the blessing. We must not regard iniquity, must ask in faith, must ask with the whole heart, must ask according to God's will, must abide in Christ. To take any one text and its condition alone as sufficient, is "private interpretation."

The same principle holds good as regards God's dealings with Israel according to the flesh. We have no right to say that certain promises will certainly be fulfilled to the nation of Israel because conditions are not immediately connected with them, when such positive and explicit conditions concerning that very people are elsewhere stated. Jer. 18:7-10 applies to Israel. This is conclusive on this point.

2. Some of the promises to Israel after the flesh were fulfilled in the return from the Babylonian captivity. See Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.

3. The promises to Israel were, or were to be, fulfilled either under the old covenant or the new. Fulfilled under the old covenant, they are subject to the conditions of that covenant, and fulfilled under the new covenant, they are subject to the conditions of the new covenant. The old covenant made at Horeb had reference to Israel according to the flesh; the new covenant, while made with Israel, makes ample provision for all to come, not as nations, but as individuals. "Whosoever" is not limited to race and nation. It certainly is manifest, therefore, that to fulfill promises under old covenant provisions, when that covenant is no longer in force, would make null and void the new covenant which immediately followed, and which is in force when the promises are fulfilled.

4. The literal signification of "Israel" and its origin have an important bearing on this question. "Israel" is not the name according to the flesh. It denotes prevailing faith manifested in Jacob in his night-struggle at Peniel. "Jacob" was the fleshly name; it means "supplanter." "Israel" is the spiritual name; it means prince, or prevailer with God. "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Gen. 32:28. The origin of the name is therefore spiritual, and its primary meaning spiritual instead of natural. True, it is used interchangeably with Jacob thereafter, but its origin and meaning must not be lost sight of in taking into consideration the fulfillment of the promises made to the fathers.

5. The promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel have a deeper signification than appears on their surface. The promise to Abram concerning his seed, and God's covenant with him of the same import (Genesis 15) were fulfilled to Israel, as recorded in Neh. 9:7, 8. But the promises to Abraham (an acquired name), to Isaac (the child of promise), and to Israel (the prevailer by faith), have a much deeper and broader significance. They refer not to the literal seed, but to the spiritual seed. They come under the covenant to Abraham (Genesis 17), of which circumcision was the seal. And because God made that covenant with Abraham before he was circumcised, Paul shows that it was designed to teach salvation and equal title to the promises of Abraham of all who were of the faith of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. Rom. 4:9-12.

The apostle goes further and adds, that if the promises were only to the fleshly seed, then faith is made void:—

"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise of none effect." "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all." Verses 13, 14, 16.

Much more might be quoted on this point which confirms the position above taken; but is not this sufficient?

6. The prophetic blessings pronounced upon Jacob's sons in Genesis 49 are in perfect harmony with the ground taken above. To none of them do the predictions extend beyond the Israelitish nation and old covenant, save those concerning Judah. They were all fulfilled before the first advent; but the predictions and promises concerning Judah embrace eternity, and are the continuation of the Abrahamic promises. "Unto Him [Shiloh, of the seed of Judah according to the flesh] shall the gathering of the people [peoples (R. V.), of the nations of earth] be." See Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47, 48; 28:28; and others.

It may be objected to this that Jacob said that he would tell them what should befall them "in the last days," and that this refers to the last days of the world, or, at least, to the Christian dispensation. But in reply to this it may be said that (1) the phrase, "the last days," does not necessarily mean, in the original, even the days of the Christian dispensation, although sometimes the context and import of the prophecy, in which the phrase is found, requires that meaning. Upon this point we present the opinion of as judicious a critic as Dr. Albert Barnes. He says:—

"In the last days, beabharith hayyamim. In the after days; in the futurity of days; i. e. in time to come. This is an expression that often occurs in the Old Testament. It does not of itself refer to any particular period, and especially not, as our translation would seem to indicate, to the end of the world. The expression properly denotes only future time in general."

The italics are his. That the term refers to the Christian dispensation in some instances is no doubt true, but that is not its meaning. All of the predictions concerning Jacob's eleven sons were fulfilled in the Jewish dispensation.

(2) If it be insisted on that "the last days" means the time of Christ, then the promises are fulfilled in Judah. In either way this sublime prophecy is in harmony with the positions above taken.

We will consider this subject further in our next.